Disaster Falls

A Family Story

Nonfiction, Family & Relationships, Parenting, Fatherhood, Family Relationships, Death/Grief/Bereavement, Biography & Memoir
Cover of the book Disaster Falls by Stephane Gerson, Crown/Archetype
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Stephane Gerson ISBN: 9781101906705
Publisher: Crown/Archetype Publication: January 24, 2017
Imprint: Crown Language: English
Author: Stephane Gerson
ISBN: 9781101906705
Publisher: Crown/Archetype
Publication: January 24, 2017
Imprint: Crown
Language: English

A haunting chronicle of what endures when the world we know is swept away

On a day like any other, on a rafting trip down Utah’s Green River, Stéphane Gerson’s eight-year-old son, Owen, drowned in a spot known as Disaster Falls. That night, as darkness fell, Stéphane huddled in a tent with his wife, Alison, and their older son, Julian, trying to understand what seemed inconceivable. “It’s just the three of us now,” Alison said over the sounds of a light rain and, nearby, the rushing river. “We cannot do it alone. We have to stick together.”

Disaster Falls chronicles the aftermath of that day and their shared determination to stay true to Alison’s resolution. At the heart of the book is an unflinching portrait of a marriage tested. Husband and wife grieve in radically different ways that threaten to isolate each of them in their post-Owen worlds. (“He feels so far,” Stéphane says when Alison shows him a selfie Owen had taken. “He feels so close,” she says.) With beautiful specificity, Stéphane shows how they resist that isolation and reconfigure their marriage from within.

As Stéphane navigates his grief, the memoir expands to explore how society reacts to the death of a child. He depicts the “good death” of his father, which reveals an altogther different perspective on mortality. He excavates the history of the Green River—rife with hazards not mentioned in the rafting company’s brochures. He explores how stories can both memorialize and obscure a person’s life—and how they can rescue us.

Disaster Falls is a powerful account of a life cleaved in two—raw, truthful, and unexpectedly consoling.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

A haunting chronicle of what endures when the world we know is swept away

On a day like any other, on a rafting trip down Utah’s Green River, Stéphane Gerson’s eight-year-old son, Owen, drowned in a spot known as Disaster Falls. That night, as darkness fell, Stéphane huddled in a tent with his wife, Alison, and their older son, Julian, trying to understand what seemed inconceivable. “It’s just the three of us now,” Alison said over the sounds of a light rain and, nearby, the rushing river. “We cannot do it alone. We have to stick together.”

Disaster Falls chronicles the aftermath of that day and their shared determination to stay true to Alison’s resolution. At the heart of the book is an unflinching portrait of a marriage tested. Husband and wife grieve in radically different ways that threaten to isolate each of them in their post-Owen worlds. (“He feels so far,” Stéphane says when Alison shows him a selfie Owen had taken. “He feels so close,” she says.) With beautiful specificity, Stéphane shows how they resist that isolation and reconfigure their marriage from within.

As Stéphane navigates his grief, the memoir expands to explore how society reacts to the death of a child. He depicts the “good death” of his father, which reveals an altogther different perspective on mortality. He excavates the history of the Green River—rife with hazards not mentioned in the rafting company’s brochures. He explores how stories can both memorialize and obscure a person’s life—and how they can rescue us.

Disaster Falls is a powerful account of a life cleaved in two—raw, truthful, and unexpectedly consoling.

More books from Biography & Memoir

Cover of the book My Last Step Backward by Stephane Gerson
Cover of the book Spartacus Sobbicus by Stephane Gerson
Cover of the book Thurgood Marshall by Stephane Gerson
Cover of the book Ike by Stephane Gerson
Cover of the book Dave Bing by Stephane Gerson
Cover of the book Les Grands Navigateurs by Stephane Gerson
Cover of the book Adieux by Stephane Gerson
Cover of the book Enthusiasms by Stephane Gerson
Cover of the book The Sugar Girls – Ethel’s Story: Tales of Hardship, Love and Happiness in Tate & Lyle’s East End by Stephane Gerson
Cover of the book Complete course fluent French by Stephane Gerson
Cover of the book Sharing Jamie's World: The Life and Love of a Child with Cystic Fibrosis by Stephane Gerson
Cover of the book Don't Leave Yet by Stephane Gerson
Cover of the book Life of Tom Horn, Government Scout and Interpreter by Stephane Gerson
Cover of the book Cholas in Bowlers by Stephane Gerson
Cover of the book Cliff Arquette 34 Success Facts - Everything you need to know about Cliff Arquette by Stephane Gerson
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy